Thrills and spills fail to deliver final blow

IT'LL take a pliers to separate these two. The score line was the same as their first FAI Cup semi final fixture but practically all the similar cities ended there. Anyon who says the TV stuff is better than this needs their sanity examined. The Merseyside derby? No on cared.

A titanic absorbing struggle" ebbed and flowed from first minute to last, and you couldn't take your eyes off the pitch. As the 26 players almost crawled to the sanctuary of their dressing rooms, you couldn't dispute a either team's right to another tilt at the final either.

They meet again at the same time,, same day, next week, but at Dalymount Park as Bohemians won the toss of coin for choice of venue for the second replay. It's a shame really. Last night was a credit to everyone concerned, not least the Richmond Park ground and club staff.

Whereas the huge crowd for the original draw made the tension unbearable for the players, at Richmond Park the sight and sound of a Shed end throbbing with Saintsmania and the rest of this wonderfully compact ground full to capacity was somehow a more inspiring backdrop. It was hard to credit that these were the same teams.

The pitch withstood a fearful pummelling amid more rain and more wholehearted sliding tackles than you'd see in a month of Sundays. Whereas neither goalkeeper once rolled the ball out in the original draw, here they looked for the available man at almost every opportunity. Just as importantly, some of the saves Gareth Byrne and Dave Henderson produced were breathtaking.

The variety of movement off the ball and the passing, at least until the pitch churned up, was a credit to both teams. The pace of a fluctuating, end to end, helter skelter game was frightening. So many players played well, so few badly. Until St Patrick's came on much the stronger in extra time and Bohemians visibly wilted, there wad nothing between them either.

Have me taken away by the men in white coats too, but as a football match it was actually superior to the 3-3 draw here in, January. All that was missing were goals. Byrne, it is true, was much the busier goalkeeper initially, but ultimately Henderson made two outstanding extra time parries to save his tiring teammates.

All told, there were enough twists and enough shots of menace to fill a meaty little thriller, and though no one died, exhaustion must nearly have taken its toll. Praise be, the game even started on time. Bohemians knocking it about sweetly through Tommy Byrne, Tony O'Connor and company, began much better than a nervous St Patrick's.

Taking up where he left off in the first game, Brian Mooney threatened to win it on his own again. Ever purposeful and alert, he twice reacted quicker than anyone to loose balls when coming in off his right wing. A second minute, left footed volley dipped just over, while one of his dippers on the half hour would have beaten the back pedalling Byrne with another yard or two on it.

In between, and in contrast to recent meetings, Byrne's handling of a greasy ball was faultless. Then Paul Campbell retaliated to Mooney's runs with one of his own, Ricky O'Flaherty shooting across the face of the goal.

Gradually St Patrick's started to impose themselves. Eddie Gormley somehow survived the flying tackles to hold on to the ball, and Paul Osam proved particularly strong on the ball. Into "the game came Brian Morrisroe, too, shooting over on the run after 34 minutes and setting up Gormley for a 20 yard, left footer, two minutes later, which scraped Henderson's left upright.

Maurice O'Driscoll's aerial presence was a constant threat, Tony Cousins meeting the mid fielder's goal bound header from a Tommy Byrne corner with a perfectly executed overhead kick which Gareth Byrne parried point blank. The St Patrick's goalkeeper reacted well to clutch O'Driscoll's subsequent shot.

On and on it went in the second half. Bohemians tired a little and St Patrick's, in time honoured tradition, came out fighting. Now it was Henderson's turn, flicking over a John McDonnell header from the home side's overdue first corner after 59 minutes.

Willie Burke still had to clear an O'Driscoll header off the line, but the force was increasingly with St Patrick's. Brian Kerr made three effective substitutions Jason Byrne especially giving them more of a cutting edge. Some of the defending was first rate, too. Man of the Match Dave Campbell hasn't been mentioned, but it was that kind of match.

On into extra time then. The mistakes and the bookings for a variety of professional fouls mounted (there were six in all) as Brendan Shorte showed an understanding approach. John Byrne and Morrisroe missed the target, Gormley didn't but Henderson beat out his thunderous free and then, wrong footed, saved from Jason Byrne with his leg after a superb Morrisroe Johnny Glynn move.

Shades of the 0-0 thriller in the first replay against Derry last year Bohemians were almost dead on their fret but not quite.